#15: History of Colorado Mob (Part 1): The Carlino Brothers and Giuseppe "Joe" Roma

[@rogersclark2850]

freaking AWESOME!!!!! It's about time!!!!!! I have known a lot about this being born and raised in Denver and studying Denver crime and history in college in 1999... this is the most complete content that I have ran across and learning so much about the Colorado Mob then I knew before..... thank you very much! great job!!!!

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I really appreciate it the kind words! I recommend watching Part 2 as well as my interview with Sam Carlino, grandson of Pete.

[@signoguns8501]

Excellent stuff. Just found your channel and have spent the last day in bed binge watching all your videos lol. Love it. Much prefer these detailed deep-dives. You make the best mob content on youtube, you and that British guy. Keep it up, bro.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you! Those are very kind words.

[@jeremyjohnson2422]

Great episode love to learn about the other families besides the one's in New York, Chicago, Detroit or New Orleans. Have heard about this men before this your channel is one of my favorite organized crime channels.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching Jeremy!

[@quimbo3390]

This channel is great. You talk about people that you never hear about normally its sweet👍

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you so much for the kind words Quimbo! I work really hard on it, so it's good to get that validation.

[@randythesavage1105]

Great videos!! I love learning about the smaller mobs in America, please do a deep dive into the Rochester Crime Family.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you Randy! (Love your handle btw) I like covering the smaller mobs as well as I've learned a lot I didn't previously know. Rochester is on the longer-term roadmap for sure.

[@randythesavage1105]

​@TheMembersOnlyPodcast a super deep dive into Tony Accardo (Angelo Brruno style) would be amazing. Also, how many made members did the New England mob have in it's height of power?

[@potheadmike8510]

Love your channel! I knew NOTHING about the Colorado mob!

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I really appreciate the kind words and glad to have shared something you hadn't heard before (my overall goal).

[@potheadmike8510]

@@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast - You REALLY dig out the story! Very intriguing! I was wondering if you knew what happened to the guy that gave Al Capone his sobriquet? I've looked EVERYWHERE and can find NOTHING. I find it hard to believe Al "Scarface" Capone would give him a pass especially, since he HATED the name "Scarface"

[@najeeevans]

I can't wait til you do a story about Kansas City Mafia

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

They are certainly on the list of cities I'd like to cover

[@michaelarbogast728]

Can't wait for part two!

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Just dropped today

[@bayliethayer4686]

Thank you for covering my family history!

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching! If you don't mind me asking, who are you related to from the video?

[@bethewalt7385]

Second generation Coloradan here, my mother was born 1924 in a house on Santa Fe street Denver, until the onset of the depression her parent's Anna and Norman had a cafe in Denver, Boettcher is pronounced BET-CHER, FYI, this is interesting and nicely done....glad you do your own narration, cannot stand bots....

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching! I'm sure you have some stories growing up in and around Denver. Noted regarding the Boettcher pronunciation.

[@danielcole156]

Grate podcast love you channel one of the best don’t get a big head LOL 😂 😅😂😊

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I appreciate the compliment Daniel! I can assure you, there is no risk of getting a big head. I'm just a nobody with a passion for history, an interest in the mob, and a need to scratch the creative itch that leads to content creation. If I can get a few views, maybe make a few bucks here and there, and have some good conversations with my audience, then I'm happy.

[@btterfly666]

Great information! Thank you!

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you as always for the continued support!

[@johnsilletti619]

Do you know if there are any of Roma family around today? I live in Denver and know much about North Denver but would like much more info about Roma

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching! As for Roma's family, I don't know off the top of my head. If you're wanting to track that down, you can always do research on a geneological site like www.myheritage.com. Another potential source of that info could be Sam Carlino, who authored the book "Colorado's Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire' and who is in fact that grandson of the Sam Carlino I'd referenced in the video. He is someone I'd love to have on my show at some point.

[@bigpapaplantman5126]

I'm not sure if any are around. My family was in the Smaldone family and most of my older relatives who were in the mob have passed away. A few of us youngsters try to keep our history and culture but sadly many have moved on from Italian culture in Denver. 38th Street is really the only place left and it's being bought out my the wealthy moving to the state, pushing us Italians out

[@jmarlin78]

Good job. The Danna's was actually D'anna. They had a strong reach... During the war they reached out to Sicily, had some fam members sent down to help during this war .. . Years later, a few of them ended up in NY and part of the luchese family. One lived to a ripe old age. Paul D'anna. The D'anna family was actually very strong and connected in Sicily.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching! That's interesting regarding D'Anna. All the newspaper reports I pulled spelled it Danna, but then again I didn't look too far past the early 1930's, nor was my research focused on D'Anna instead of Danna. I'll have to dig just a little further in on Paul.

[@johnnywindsor183]

Please when you get a chance sone stories from Pittsburg, New Orleans, buffalo, Cleveland , Tampa and most of all Detroit I know that’s a lot but would love to listen to these

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Hi Johnny! If only I moved as quickly as others, right? I promise that all the cities you've mentioned are on the radar. My goal would be to develop a huge sort of library of evergreen content related to those families' histories. It may take me a while to do them all, but I hope to get to them all at some point.

[@johnnywindsor183]

@@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast you take your time, the content you dish out is worth the wait Many thanks John from Liverpool uk

[@wednesdayschild3627]

My great grandpa came to Denver on the train on 1890s. The kkk came after the family. He had mean dogs and fences. Prohibition was stupid. Colorado has always been a lawless place.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Sorry for the delay in responding! I am positive that you have some very interesting family stories. And yes, Prohibition was a boon for the mob and generally not great for the public. And yes, my research confirms that Colorado was just as vicious as anyplace in the country, especially during the 1920's and early 1930's.

[@littlemanscorner1718]

Great job

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you

[@dutchybag]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching!

[@jacoblouden8490]

Good show

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching!

[@martincalderon4284]

I cant find anything on carlo carlino anywhere, do you have more info?

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Honestly, Sam Carlino would be the best person to reach out to on the subject. I did an interview with him (episode 17) after I put out these episodes.

[@SS_MARSCHIERT43_44]

I like your two part story of the Colorado mob and I'm reading the book by the grandson of Pete Carlino.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you Brayden! The two Colorado episodes have been some of my more popular episodes. I really enjoyed the process of researching them as well and it kind of changed the game for me in terms the way I use source materials. Sam is a really nice guy and his book is top-notch. I recommend you watch my interview of him.

[@jeffgranda3931]

Good stuff

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Glad you enjoyed

[@josephhopeless829]

“The Fixer” “and “Kid Duffy”! WOW! You’re going back, gonna cover north or South Dakota Next? Kudos man ur digging deep.

[@josephhopeless829]

lol funny u mention the KKK next. It was big in a city where I’m near when my parents moved to NC back in 79 there was a big sign that said “welcome to Smithfield, original home Of the klan!” Or some such thing. Huge KKK guy, wrote “birth of a nation” About how the kkk lived and died in Raleigh lol. Crazy how their tentacles like the mobs went everywhere they could. Politics. It’s something else. One person says “this guys gotta go” And it’s done 1000 miles away that’s nutty.

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you! I went pretty deep here. Luckily, there were some great resources to lean on for my research.

[@utubeadsaredworst5121]

It’s crazy to hear the strong Italian American background of Colorado, I guess they all moved after the gold rush because pizza in Colorado is absolutely terrible

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Yes, Colorado has a very significant Italian-American history, which many simply don't know about. I can't speak on the pizza though. :-)

[@jrcenteno1896]

I thought this was well worth watching. 👍

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Thank you so much!

[@johngleason9421]

Dude, ... I'm surprised you haven't covered the Chicago outfit yet.. One if not the largest most power Cosa Nostra family in the entire country.. They controlled everything west of the Mississippi.. Lots of interesting characters for you to cover...

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Hi John! I agree, the Chicago Outfit is going to need to be covered soon. There really hasn't been any particular reason why I haven't done it, I've just been bouncing organically from one topic to the next trying to focus on the lesser known families while interspersing some of the more well-known characters.

[@rick_4760]

The fact that Carlino would openly testify against his enemies is fascinating! What if mob families openly testified against enemies they couldn’t kill, or set up there enemies and ordered civilians to testify falsely 🤔🤔😉

[@jrcenteno1896]

That would be LCN Jungle law ! Smh , unacceptable...

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I believe it was the Danna's that actually testified against the Carlino's (Sam Danna specifically), and then James Coletti (a Carlino associate) testified that the shooter of Sam Carlino was Bruno Mauro. However, when Pete was shot at in February 1931, he refused to give up the shooters to the police but said he "knew who they were." Regarding snitching, you're right it's typically the death penalty (and Omertà was important), but in the early days and in some cases after Cosa Nostra had been formed, it wasn't uncommon for guys to drop dimes on their rivals (ex: Genovese dropping the dime that Luciano was in Cuba or Luciano, Lansky, etc. helping set up Genovese to take a big pinch in the late 50's). The more I've researched, the more I've found a greater deal of hypocrisy and less strict adherence to the "rules" than myth and lore would have us believe.

[@d34dsatan]

went to a local ex-mob hangout on 38th called gastano's today. good food and service. go there if want authentic Italian cuisine 👍

[@traceytrenam1280]

The first syllable in Boetcher is pronounced like better, not bawtcher

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Apologies for the mispronunciation. Pronouncing various names, places, etc. has been something I've been working on improving since the beginning of the podcast, but as you can see I don't always get it right. Hopefully you enjoyed the rest of the episode.

[@kayliecarlino3030]

I'm a Carlino here in Oregon

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Hello there Kaylie! Thank you for listening. Are you related by chance? There's another episode where I talk to Sam Carlino who is the grandson of Pete.

[@JamariHamlin]

im actually related tothe mulay family

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

Wow! I'm sure you have many stories, and I'd certainly love to hear them. The early Prohibition days in Colorado were as intense as anywhere in the country.

[@tooltymeallen1366]

Go back further in Pueblo the black hand was the original name Why do you think cannabis was legalized first in Colorado 😅

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I've seen in my research that all over the country at that time Black Hand and Mafia were used interchangeably. There of course also was the actual Black Hand movement amongst Italians in the early 1900's which fizzled out as Prohibition grew. And I agree, Colorado loves it some cannabis.

[@tooltymeallen1366]

@@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast try looking up the spanuzi family in Pueblo Also the mountain mafia books are written from court documents and newspapers

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I talk some about Scotty Spinuzzi in Part Two of the Colorado Mob after the bit about the Smaldones.

[@tooltymeallen1366]

Gaetanos was a Denver restaurant Gaglianos a store in Pueblo Connect the dots

[@jameswalker4225]

Thank god your intro beats the f**k out off OC Shorts British accent high-speed dithering

[@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast]

I've been told the intro of my show is too long to which I have repeatedly said that it's so near and dear to my heart that it's not going anywhere. OC takes a different approach and certainly gets to the meat and potatoes of his episodes more quickly than I do. And I think his content is amazing btw - we just take different approaches to the setup.

[@jameswalker4225]

@@TheGanglandHistoryPodcast dude, you’re fine and a great story teller. OC just comes off as a bit of a tosser trying to use the colonials for his claim to fame.